Twelve
by 59katie
Summary: Walker is stunned to find out that a classmate of eleven year old Angela is expecting. Also Angela is threatened by a relative of a man who hurt Alex in the past. Mature because of subject matter.


Twelve by Katie 59

Chapter One

Walker wearily entered his ranch house as he thought about the fact he had just lost everything that he had ever cared about. His family was now gone and he felt that it was his fault because he hadn't been able to get to them in time. A man by the name of Lester Rappaport had tried to take Angela from the ranch but was stopped from doing so by Sydney Cooke and Kayla Swanson. When he was being led away in handcuffs Rappaport had told Walker that his entire family would be dead before the end of the week. Walker had assigned Rangers Swanson and Cooper to follow his wife Alex and their children home each day. Which they did but Walker had never thought to have the van checked over. Alex and their children died when Alex's van had slammed into a support for an on ramp. [The accelerator had been tampered with and the brake line had been cut.] He went into his den and after he locked the door Walker sat down on his chair then removed his gun from it's holster and laid it on his leg. After staring at it for several hours Walker raised it to the side of his head. Just then he heard Alex call out as the door knob was rattled " Walker are you in your den? Please let me in. We need to talk." Walker placed his gun into the lock box that he usually kept it in then placed the box into his wall safe before unlocking the door.

Alex asked him " Honey are you okay?" Walker answered " Alex because of me you and the children are dead. How do you think that I feel? I have nothing to live for anymore. Please leave the room so that I can do the right thing and end everything."

Alex replied " Go right ahead Cordell. No one is stopping you from killing yourself. So just go ahead and place your gun to the side of your head and pull the trigger. But let me warn you that if you do that you will never see me or the children again because you'll be in hell while we'll be in heaven." Walker answered " That's where I belong. Now leave."

After she left the room Walker went to the safe and started to open it to get out his gun but he stopped when he saw the painting of his extended family that Alex had given to him for Christmas a few years back. Taking it off the wall Walker sat down on his chair looking at it as he said to himself ' I will see you and the children again.' After studying it for a few minutes longer Walker then placed the painting back on the wall and left his den. Walker then went into Alex's home office and sat down at her computer desk where he fell asleep while reliving the last twelve years of his life.

Walker was startled out of his sleep by someone placing their hand on his shoulder. Before he knew what he was doing Walker had the person down on the floor with him over that person. Alex looked up at her husband and told him " Walker honey we can't do this now. All five of our children are awake." Walker released Alex who slid out from under her husband as she questioned him " Honey I know that we had a major disagreement last night but why on earth did you sleep in here? Wouldn't the couch have been more comfortable? Or better yet why didn't you just come to our bedroom so that we could have kissed and made up?"

Walker suggested " How about tonight?" Alex agreed by saying " Sounds real good to me Cordell." As her husband was getting to his feet Alex told him " I'm really sorry about the way I behaved last night. I was very scared about what had almost happened to Angela but still that was no excuse for me to have told you that I wanted a divorce if any of our children were ever again threatened by a criminal who had vowed to get revenge. Can you ever forgive me?"

" Yes Alex, I can forgive you." Walker answered his wife who hugged him. Returning the hug Walker said " Alex it's okay. He's back in jail where he belongs and is no longer a threat to our daughter. I should have told you that Lester Rappaport had threatened to hurt Angela the way you were hurt all those years ago by his brother Michael Rappaport. I thought that he was just another criminal running his mouth and I didn't take it as seriously as I should have. I will not let anything like that happen again. You have my word."

" Walker it's just that when you told me last night that Lester Rappaport had threatened to... well you know hurt Angela the way I was back then all I could think of was the time his brother hurt me. I was so upset to learn that my baby was the target of a man like that and the fact that you knew about it but didn't say anything to me until after Angela was safely inside of our house. My god Walker if Sydney and Kayla hadn't happened to drop by our ranch so that they could ride their horses Rappaport would have been able to grab Angela. I know that you were flying home in your truck right then but you were too far away to stop him. It was a lot for me to take in but there's no way that I would ever divorce you. These last twelve years had been the best twelve years of my life." Alex answered Walker.

" Same here lady." Walker said as he pulled Alex to him and kissed her. They broke apart when Angela appeared in the doorway to question them " Dad why did that man try to take me? Was he going to hurt me? Mom is that why you and Dad were fighting last night?" Alex looked at her husband before answering " Angela you and I will talk about that after school, okay?" Angela nodded okay and left her mother's home office.

Walker then said " What do you plan on telling our daughter? Isn't she too young for you to explain something like that to her?" Alex carefully responded " I intend to tell our daughter as much of the truth as I think she can handle. Now Cordell before you object I want you to remember that Angela is going to be eleven years old. Also at least two of her schoolmates who are only a couple of grades ahead of her are expecting. She's going to have sex ed in school next year and I have been telling her things ahead of our mother and daughter that we're going to have when I feel that she's old enough for it. I will put it as gently as I can but Angela will be soon getting to the age where she has to be able to fend off some things."

" She's going to be eleven Alex, not twenty one." Walker did object causing his wife to tell him " Yes I know that honey but I think that it's best if I handle this kind of thing with our daughters while you handle it with our sons. I know that you still think of Angela as a baby but she's not and it's our job as parents to help her cope with what life throws at her. Please let me handle this my way. I won't go overboard but I will explain what he was up to in terms that she can understand and handle."

Walker reluctantly nodded okay then changed the subject by telling Alex that he wanted her van gone over with a fine tooth comb just to be on the safe side. Knowing that her husband was in a protective mode Alex said that she would drop it off at the garage on the way to work.  
That evening after they had eaten dinner Walker took the other four children outside to watch the horses run around while Alex took her oldest daughter into her home office. After she closed the door Alex asked " Angela honey do you want Mommy to explain to you why that man tried to grab you the other day?" Angela answered her mother " I know that he grabbed me to get back at you and Dad. He yelled at me that he was going to hurt me the way that his brother hurt you. He said that he was going to teach you and Dad a lesson because the two of you were responsible for the death of his older brother. That's what he told me right before Aunt Sydney and Miss Kayla made him let me go. Mom how were you hurt by his brother? Did you and Dad then kill his brother because of that?"

Alex carefully explained what had Michael Rappaport had done to her years ago " Angela several years ago when your father was off helping someone I was kidnapped by Michael Rappport. He held me for a few days during which time he hurt me more than once. Your Aunt Sydney who was working a sex assault case at that time found me and rescued me. That animal pleaded guilty to all charges and was sentenced to jail but his new lawyer got all that overturned and he was released from prison. He then came out to the ranch to get back at me for his having been in jail but we were at the reservation that weekend. Sydney and Miss Erica were here that weekend and he tried to hurt them instead. Your Aunt Sydney was forced to shoot and kill him when he pulled a gun and advanced on them with the intent of killing them. As to his brother and what he was going to do to you. Now Angela you know sometimes that your father and I kiss, right?"

" Yes but what's that got to do with a man hurting you and his brother trying to teach you and Dad a lesson by hurting me the same way?" Angela questioned her mother who replied " When..uhm.. Rappaport...well he forcibly kissed me then he...Well that is to say...Well let's just put it like this, he removed my clothes and hurt me."

" Why didn't you stop him from taking your clothes off? And how did he hurt you? Did he hit you or something?" Angela asked Alex who took a deep breath then said " He had knocked me out before he took my clothes off and yes he did hit me. But as to how he hurt me. Angela all I can tell you that he forcibly kissed me on the lips then he hurt me. His brother was going to remove your clothes too then he was going to... well forcibly kiss you on the lips and then hurt you."

" That's so gross. I don't want any man to kiss me on the lips ever. Only adults should kiss each other like that. Is there something wrong with him that he would try and kiss me like that? And why would he want to take my clothes off? I mean I know that some of the older girls let their boyfriends take off their clothes. But I don't know why and I don't want to because it seems to be a gross thing to do. I think that's how come Deanna is going to have a baby though. Why do they do that? Because I'm not going to let anyone take my clothes off of me, ever. I don't want you and Dad to get mad at me for not being modest." Angela informed Alex who was more than a little shocked that Angela's friend Deanna was going to have a baby. Alex then told her daughter " Yes there's something wrong with him. And I'm glad to hear that you're never going to let anyone remove your clothes. Angela honey isn't Deanna only a year older than you are? What do her parents think about it?"

" She's a year and a half older than me. Her father isn't around and when her mother is at work Deanna plays house with her mother's friend who lives with them. She's been doing that with him ever since he moved into their house. Deanna said that they were going to run away together next week. Mom can you stop them from running away together? I don't think that Deanna should run away from home. Children should live with their parents. Shouldn't they?" Angela answered.

" I'll do my best to stop them from running away together. And yes children should live with their parents in most cases. Do you know what her mother's friend name is?" Alex said to her daughter who replied " It's Taylor Nathan but Deanna told me that he told her to call him candy man because he's the sweetest thing that Deanna will ever know. What did he mean by that?"

Getting more upset by the minute Alex said " Nothing important. Why don't we go outside with the others?" Angela agreed and they joined the rest of the Walkers outside. Once outside Alex drew her husband off to the side and told him " You need to keep an eye on the children while I make a few phone calls."

Walker objected " Alex can't you put your job aside long enough to spend at least one evening with your family?" Alex answered " I wish that I could but I can't, Deanna is expecting."

Not understanding what Alex was trying to tell him Walker asked " What is Deanna expecting?" Alex then bluntly replied " A baby. She's pregnant and her mother's friend is the father. Angela just told me that they plan to run away together. I need to call social services and get them involved."

" She's in the same grade as our daughter for God's sake." Walker told Alex who said " While she's in the same grade Deanna is a year and a half older than Angela is. But still that's way too young for a grown man to be playing house with her. That's why I need to get social services involved. After the children are asleep I'll tell you about the talk I had with our daughter, okay?" Walker nodded okay so Alex went and made her phone calls.

Chapter Two

After Alex returned to the house to make her phone calls Angela asked her father " Dad why did Mom get so upset when I told her that Deanna was going to have a baby?" Walker answered " Because Deanna is way too young to have a baby. Angela has your friend said anything else to you about her mother's friend? Anything at all? I think you should tell me if you know anything else."

Angela looked away from her father instead of replying so Walker asked her " Angela what did Deanna tell you? Whatever it is you have to tell me so that your mother and I can help Deanna. She needs our help honey." Angela lowered her head as she mumbled " I promised Deanna that I wouldn't tell anyone what she told me about him and what he had her do and what he did. Daddy if I tell what I know can you make sure that he doesn't hurt Deanna's little sister? He told Deanna that if she told anyone about her playing house with him that her little sister would get hurt. I don't want Deanna's little sister Katrina geting hurt. I don't think any little sister should get hurt because of me telling what he's doing."

Walker vowed to his daughter " I will make sure that he doesn't hurt Deanna's little sister. Now Angela your mother and I need to know what he had Deanna do. Can you tell me?" Angela answered " Can I tell Mom instead? I can't tell you about it, you're my Daddy. Mom's are supposed to talk to their daughters about things like that, not their dads."

" Okay honey you go inside and tell your mother what you know about what Taylor Nathan is doing to Deanna." Walker told his daughter who nodded okay and went into the house. Walker went over to the corral fence to make sure that none of the triplets or Ray got inside of the enclosure. As he was watching his children Walker vowed to himself that he would personally see to it that Deanna and her little sister were protected from Taylor Nathan.

About a half an hour later Alex came back outside led Walker a short distance away from the children and told her husband " Several Child Protective Agency case workers are on their way to pick up both Deanna and her little sister. Taylor Nathan will be removed from the home by Dallas P.D. at the request of the Child Protective Agency. Also Walker you need to know what Angela just told me but before I do that I want your word that you won't go after Nathan by yourself. That you will let the agencies that are set up to deal with these things do their job."

" What did he do Alex?" Walker all but growled at Alex knowing that whatever it was that it somehow involved his oldest daughter. After checking to make sure that the children weren't listening Alex explained " If you remember Angela stayed over Deanna's house last year and..." Walker broke in " Are you trying to tell me that he did something to our daughter then? Because if he did there is no way in hell that I'm staying here and let someone else deal with Nathan. No way in hell Alex."

" I know that and no he didn't do anything to Angela but he tried to. Please I know that this is very upsetting to you but before you go and do anything that you'll regret let me tell you what our daughter told me, okay?" Alex said to Walker who walked away from his wife because he felt as though he was going to explode. Alex knowing this waited until he had calmed down then she went over to her husband and told him " Angela told me that Taylor Nathan came into Deanna's bedroom the night our daughter stayed over and asked if she Angela was interested in playing house with him. When he asked her that Deanna said that only she was supposed to play house with him. Nathan then told Deanna to go ahead and remove her clothes then he would play house with her. Angela then told Deanna that it was wrong to remove your clothes in front of other people. Nathan then told Angela that she should take her clothes off too since Deanna was going to but Angela told him that she wasn't going to do so. He then told her that he could do it for her as he grabbed her by the arms. When he did that Angela told him that she would tell us about him playing house with Deanna. Nathan told her that if she breathed a word to anyone about him and Deanna playing house that he would hurt Deanna's little sister Katrina. Angela told him that you would protect Katrina but Nathan told her that if she told anyone about them playing house Deanna and Katrina would both be put away in a very bad place and that it would be all Angela's fault. According to Angela Deanna then began crying that she didn't want Katrina hurt and she also didn't want to be put away in a bad place. That bastard then told our daughter that maybe something would happen to Angela's little sister instead. Angela then told him to leave Deanna's bedroom and he told her that he would after he got Angela's promise that she wouldn't tell anyone including us about what had happened. Angela told me that she crossed her fingers behind her back when she said that she wouldn't tell anyone. After Nathan left the bedroom Deanna told Angela that Taylor Nathan was really a nice guy but that he could get mean and could Angela please not say anything because she didn't want either Katrina or Michaela getting hurt. And that she was really scared about being put away in a very bad place with her little sister."

" Is that everything?" A visably irate Walker asked Alex who answered " No, it's not. About six months ago Nathan had a friend play house with Deanna at least once. Angela doesn't know the name of this friend. Deanna said that she didn't want to remember his name because he was real mean to her and hurt her. Nathan promised her that she never had to play house with his friend again just so long as she would run away with him when she got a little older and she agreed to run away with him. Deanna told Angela that she began to get sick to her stomach so she went to a free clinic by herself and that the nurse at the clinic said that she was going to have a baby. When Deanna told Nathan about the baby he said that he was so happy that she was having his baby and that they should run away sooner. Angela doesn't know if Deanna ever told her mother what was going on. However I do think that Deanna's mother must know about some of it because the clinic would have to have told her that her underage daughter was expecting a baby." Walker then said " I'll be back." As he was headed to his truck Angela ran over to him and asked " Dad where are you going? Can I come with you?"

Walker looked at his young daughter for a minute before telling her " I was going to get some pizza and wings. Go ahead and get in the truck." Angela ran over and got into the truck. Ray then asked if he could go too and Alex said " Yes you too Ray but you triplets are staying here and helping me clean up the mess you made earlier today." The triplets protested but Alex would hear none of it. That night in their bedroom Walker told Alex in no uncertain terms " Alex understand this, if I should find out that Taylor Nathan did in fact hurt my daughter in any way there is nothing on the face of this earth that will stop me from taking care of him."

" I know that Cordell. I questioned Angela in depth about what she told me and I believe her when she tells me that nothing else happened that night at Deanna's. Don't you think that I would notice if my baby had been hurt in that way or any other way?" Alex answered her husband back. Walker then said " Alex I'm going to check on the horses." Alex nodded okay because she knew that her husband needed to be by himself. When he returned ten minutes later Alex asked him " Are the horses okay?"

Slippping into bed with her Walker answered " I'm fine Alex." Alex laid her head on his chest and they drifted off to sleep.

Chapter Three

Several days later Angela came home from school and when Walker who was home early asked her how her day went Angela informed him that she thought he was very mean because her friend Deanna and Deanna's little sister had been taken from their home and put in a bad place. That he had promised to protect them and he hadn't kept his word about protecting them. Walker tried to explain " Angela honey, you know that Deanna is going to have a baby and that's because her mother's friend has been playing house with her. Now I know that your mother has told you that it's wrong for a grown man to play house with a child. Since we haven't found Taylor Nathan yet Deanna and her sister Katrina will be staying in a foster home until we find him and put him in jail. Once he's in jail social services will then make sure that it's safe for them to return home before allowing them to do so."

" Why can't you just go and arrest him yourself? Why do you have to wait for the police to find him for you? I mean everyone knows that he hasn't left Deanna's house. It's not right that Deanna and Katrina have to leave home but that bad man gets to stay in their house with their mother." Angela responded to her father who then said to his daughter " Angela how do you know that Taylor Nathan is still living with Deanna's mother? The police officers went there and looked for him but didn't find him. Deanna's mother told the officer that she threw him out and didn't know where Nathan was at."

" Because Louellen who lives right next door told me in school today that she saw him there last night with Deanna's mother. Dad are you going to go and arrest him?" Angela said to her father who assured her that he was going to do exactly that. Angela then went upstairs to her room to play dollies with her little sister Michaela. Walker called up the nanny Betty at her cabin and told her what was going on and she told him that he would be at the house in ten minutes to watch the children. After ending the phone call with Betty Walker called up Ranger Swanson and told her that she was to meet him at Deanna's mother house to see if they could catch Taylor Nathan there. Swanson said that she would get there before he did and would watch the house until he got there.

Swanson got out of her car as Walker pulled up in front of it. Before Walker could ask her anything Swanson told him " There are two men in the house, one of whom fits the description of Taylor Nathan along with a woman, whom I'm pretty sure is Deanna's mother Jean Newhouse and I hate to say this but there's a little girl in there too. She's only been in there about five minutes. A woman came running up the front walk with the child calling out for Miss Newhouse. Miss Newhouse opened the door and let the child in then the other woman left in a hurry. I got out of my car then and walked around to the alley to see if the child went into the backyard to play but she didn't. On my way back to the front of the house I cut through the yard on the other side and I heard a male's voice tell someone to go get the bedroom ready. I called for backup to be in the alley should anyone try to get out that way. There's no side door and the back yard is fenced in."

Walker nodded okay and they went to the front door where Walker knocked on it as he said " Texas Rangers, open the door." As he was getting ready to knock again the door was opened by a woman who demanded " What do you want?"

" We want Taylor Nathan." Walker replied and the woman replied as she tried to shut the door " Look I have already told everyone he moved out. Now go away." Walker placed his hand on the door so that she couldn't close it. Swanson added " Ma'am we know that he's in there along with another male and a young girl whom we have reason to believe may be in danger from Taylor Nathan. If you don't step aside you'll be arrested."

" Go to hell." Jean Newhouse snarled as she again tried to close the door. Walker and Swanson then forced their way into the house. Swanson told Newhouse to stay put and then she followed Walker up the steps. On their way upstairs they heard a young girl crying for her mother while the two men were telling her to stop crying, that they would take her back to her mother after they played house with her. Walker entered the bedroom and quickly knocked the two men away from the little girl. Swanson took the child outside to her car and called the Child Protective Agency about a possible case of child sex abuse. She then had the police go into the house to secure the two men and Newhouse. As all three of the adults were being led away Jean Newhouse yelled at Walker " I know that it was your little brat that caused all my problems and I'm going to see to it that she and that even brattier little sister of her's pays for it."

Walker didn't answer her. Swanson then told the woman " If anyone caused your problems it was you for knowing a grown man was playing house with your young daughter and acting like you didn't know about it. How could you not know that a grown man was doing that to your daughter?" Newhouse snapped " I knew about it. Taylor wanted a baby and I don't want to carry any more so I told him that Deanna could make a baby with him. What's wrong with me helping my friend become a father? He's great with kids."

This infuriated Swanson who went after Newhouse but was stopped by Walker telling her " Ranger Swanson why don't you go and talk to the little girl in the backseat of your car to see who she is and why she was dropped off here. I'll go to Ranger headquarters to see that these three are booked." Swanson headed to her car while Walker went over to the police officer in charge who said " We're going to do this by the book Walker. They've been read their rights already and just as soon as we get them to headquarters they'll be read their rights again then booked in. D.A. Holland will then be informed by me of what's going on. We are going to make damn sure that everything is done right because there's no way in hell anyone of us wants them to walk on a technicality. I have a young daughter myself."

Walker watched as the police cars were driven away with the three adults in them then turned to Swanson and asked her " Swanson why are you still here?" Holding the little girl Swanson motioned to a female police officer to join her as she replied " Because Louellen here wants Officer O'Patrick and I to tell her Mommy what those men tried to make her do. Louellen and her parents live right next door to here. Miss Newhouse was babysitting Louellen for her mother who had to take a younger brother to the E.R. because he fell from a tree and broke his leg. I told her that we could wait here with her for Mommy to get home from the hospital."

O'Patrick added " I've cleared it with Captain Grear. Swanson and I will wait here with Louellen. Then we'll talk with her mother about what happened."  
" Okay Swanson and O'Patrick you can wait here with Louellen for her Mommy to get here. I'm going to headquarters to get started on the paperwork. Swanson make sure that you brief me as soon as you can." Walker answered them then got into his truck and drove away.  
At Ranger headquarters Walker was going over what had happened with Trivette when D.A. Holland opened the door to Walker's private office to say to him " Ranger Captain Walker, Ranger Trivette I think the two of you need to hear this from me. As of one hour ago Lester Rappaport is a free man. His lawyer Polstin was able to convince Judge Waner that his bond shouldn't have been forfeited because of his arrest for trying to kidnap your daughter. That it was and still is a separate legal issue that should be dealt with by a judge from this jurisdiction. As you know Lester Rappaport is here for his retrial for when he assaulted those women in San Antonio and Judge Waner had the retrial moved here because of the publicity. San Antonio A.D.A. Ellers who is in charge of the case has just filed an brief for an emergency hearing asking that Judge Waner reconsider his ruling but until then Rappport will remain a free man. My office is trying to speed up the paperwork so that the attempted kidnapping charge can be brought in front of a trial judge but that's at least a week away barring any objections by defense attorney Polstin and I'll willing to bet that there will be some. Walker as you know Rappaport has been threatening your family. Now what hasn't been learned until today was that Rappaport has also threatened to kill your ex-wife Ranger Trivette along with Ranger Cooke according to his cell mate from the county jail. I just called Ranger Cooke to inform her of his threats. I want the both of you to know that I will do everything in my power to help A.D. A. Ellers convince Judge Waner that Rappaport needs to be confined during his retrial."

Trivette said " Walker if you can handle this case I'll head over to Erica's house to make sure that she's protected from Rappaport, our son is there with her." Walker nodded okay so Trivette left Walker's private office. D.A. Holland then said " About the Nathan case so far all Miss Newhouse will admit to is that her young daughter is expecting. She denies that Nathan is the father and without proof we can't charge him with anything right now."

" Why on earth not? He and the other man was caught by both Swanson and myself in a bedroom with a young girl." Walker questioned Holland who answered " I know that Ranger Captain Walker but until the child's mother allows us to talk to her we can't arrest the two of them for anything and even then it would most likely be the child's word against the two men. But my office will file charges against them just as soon as we get a statement from the child. Has Ranger Swanson or Police Officer O'Patrick contacted you yet?"

" Not yet. D.A. Holland why can't your office do a paternity test to determine that Nathan is the father of Deanna's baby?" Walker asked Holland who answered him " I'd like nothing better than to do that Walker but since Deanna is a minor we have to have her mother's permission to do that test. Now the Child Protective Services caseworker has started the paperwork to make Deanna and her younger sister Katrina wards of the state. Once that's approved the caseworker can then have the paternity test done on the child's unborn baby. Just as soon as Swanson files her report with you please see to it that my office gets it. I'd like to be able to charge Nathan with something and hopefully there will be something in Ranger Swanson's report that will enable me to do that. I'll be in my office until nine."

Walker replied that he would and Moody left Walker's private office. Walker picked up the phone and called his wife. " Alex, Lester Rappaport is out of jail. D.A. Holland said that A.D.A. Ellers who is handling the case for the San Antonio D.A.'s office has filed an emergency motion with Judge Waner to get him put back into jail because of his attempted kidnapping of Angela. Waner ruled that it was a separate legal issue that should be dealt with by the legal system here."

" Okay Walker but to be on the safe side I'll keep the children in the house the rest of the evening and I'll tell Betty and Cal what's going on. Do you know when you'll be home?" Alex replied.

" That might take awhile, I'm waiting to hear from Swanson. She and officer O'Patrick are waiting for Louellen's mother to return home from the emergency room so that they can get her permission to interview the child to see what Nathan and his friend were doing to Louellen when we arrested them." Walker explained to Alex who questioned him " I take it that Deanna's mother is denying everything? That she knows nothing about her baby being pregnant and who the father is?"

" Newhouse admitted that her young daughter is expecting but denies that Nathan is the father and Holland said that until Deanna is declared a ward of the state a paternity test can't be done to determine who the father is." Walker answered his wife as someone knocked on his office door. Walker told her that he had to go and ended the conversation.

Swanson entered Walker's private office and told him " Louellen's mother was pretty upset when her daughter told her what had happened at Miss Newhouse house. She wants to file in her words any and all charges that she can against Newhouse. Officer O'Patrick arranged for her and Louellen to go to police headquarters tomorrow and meet with a detective to give their statements. Louellen told us that Nathan told her that she needed to remove her clothes in order for him and his friend to play house with her. Louellen said that she yelled for Miss Newhouse to let her out of the room but that she didn't. It was then that the child began to cry for her mother, at which point you and I entered the bedroom. Walker what happened with Newhouse and Nathan?"

" Nathan right now can't be charged with anything because the D.A.'s office can't prove that he's the father of Deanna's baby. However the state has filed paperwork to make Deanna and her sister Katrina wards of the state. Once that happens the paternity test can be done. Swanson, Holland wants your report on this matter. He'll be in his office until nine." Walker said.

" I'll make two copies of my report, I'll give you one and take the other one to D.A. Holland just as soon as I'm done with the report." Swanson told Walker then she too left his office. After receiving his copy of Swanson's report Walker headed home to his family.

Once he got there Alex informed him that she needed to go grocery shopping. Walker tried to get Alex to wait for a couple of days to go grocery shopping but she took him into the kitchen and showed him that they were running low on food. Walker then suggested that he go shopping for the food himself. Knowing how much her husband hated shopping Alex countered that she could go herself while Walker stayed at the ranch with their children. Walker would have none of it and after a short but intense verbal disagreement Walker informed Alex that she was to write him a list of what they needed from the store and that he would do the shopping. Seeing the insistant look on his face Alex went along with her husband's idea. After writing the grocery list Alex asked him " Do you have enough money on you to pay for the groceries? Or do you need me to give you some?"

" Alex I have $100. on me, that's enough." Walker answered as he took the list. Alex replied " I don't think that it is enough money, the last time I went shopping I spent just over $200. and that was last week. I think you should take my debit card with you."

" I'll use my debit card. Now make sure that you lock the doors after I leave. I want you and all of the children to stay in the house until I get back, understand?" Walker said and after his children agreed to stay put he then kissed Alex on the cheek and left the house.

Chapter Four

Walker did the grocery shopping and was returning to his house when he was flagged down by a woman standing along side the road near some bushes. The woman requested of him " My car has a flat tire on it. I don't know how to change a tire. Can you please help me out by changing the tire?" Walker motioned for the woman to step back from his truck which she did. Walker then got out of his truck grabbing a tire iron as he did so. The woman then said " I have one of my own in the trunk, it came with the car. You can just put your's back in your truck and use mine." Walker replied " I'll just use mine. Now please step back and let me change your tire so that you can be on your way."

The woman then pulled a gun and aimed it at Walker while she whistled. Two men came out of the bushes along side of the road as the woman told Walker " Listen Mister just stay here for a couple of minutes and no one will be hurt." Walker quickly kicked the gun out of the woman's hand and turned to the two men, one of whom said to Walker as he fired off a flare " Walker we were hired to keep you from getting home in time to save your family. Since I'm such a nice guy I won't stop you from trying to save them. So that means you have a choice to make Walker, stay here and arrest us or hurry home and try to rescue your family. Choose wisely Walker their lives depend on you getting there on time. Lester Rappaport who hired us to delay you has herded them into the barn and told us that he was going to burn them alive inside of it. He should be lighting the barn on fire right about now."

Walker turned to get into his truck as the second man pulled a gun and aimed at Walker. The first man knocked the gun away from him and said " I'm all for giving a man a chance to save his family, so no shooting him in the back. Hurry along now Walker before your family becomes crispy critters." Walker got into the truck and sped to the ranch. As he neared the barn it exploded into flames. Slamming on the brakes Walker looked at the barn now engulfed in flames. He quickly exited the truck and ran towards the barn but was stopped from entering the barn by Cal and several ranch hands. Walker fought with them as Lester Rappaport who had come from the back of the house where he had been hiding gloatingly called out " Hey Ranger Walker how does it feel to know that your family is dead because you weren't here to save them? You should have just let me have a little fun with your oldest daughter like I wanted to but no you wouldn't let me. So it's your fault that they all got burned to death."

Walker tore himself loose from Cal and the ranch hands and went over to Lester Rappaport grabbed him by the throat and started squeezing it. Cal pleaded with him " Walker please let him go, he's not worth it." Still squeezing Rappaport's throat Walker replied " No he's not but my family is worth it."

Just then they heard Angela's cry out " Daddy you have to help Mommy with the triplets, they won't jump from the hayloft like she's telling them to. Please you have to hurry Daddy. I caught Ray but the babies won't jump. Please Daddy. The flames are getting close to where they're standing. Mommy needs your help." Walker turned around to see his two oldest children standing there covered in soot. Walker hurried to the side of the barn where the opening to the hayloft was as Cal and the ranch hands found something to tie up Rappaport with.

Looking up into the smoke filled opening Walker yelled " Alex toss me the triplets." Spotting her husband there Alex grabbed the closest triplet and tossed the child to Walker who caught Cooper. Alex then tossed Michaela to her husband who was also able to catch the child. When Alex reached for Sam he screamed and backed away from her forcing Alex to follow him deeper into the hayloft. By now Cal and the ranch hands had arrived there so they took the children aside as Walker started trying to get up to the opening. After he tried to jump for the opening and failed two of the ranch hands locked their hands together and they managed to fling Walker high enough up that he was able to grab the edge of the smoke filled opening. After standing up Walker called out in a very stern voice " Samuel come to me now."

Sam appeared in the smoke and Walker grabbed his youngest son and tossed him to Cal who caught him. Walker then looked around for Alex but didn't see her so he started deeper into the hayloft yelling " Alex where are you?" Spotting her husband highlighted in the opening Alex hurried to him. Seeing that the flames was consuming the wood beneath their feet Walker grabbed his wife by the hand as he told her " Jump Alex." They jumped and landed on the ground as the flames overtook the opening that they had just been standing in. Walker reached down and helped Alex to her feet as the children came running over. Alex then said " Come on guys we need to get away from this barn before it collapses."

The Walker clan moved away from the barn as it started collapsing from the raging fire. Walker strode over to where Rappaport was standing and reared back his arm to hit him when Alex said " Cordell right now I want to hit him myself but our children need us with them. Can you please help me take them into the house?" Walker nodded okay but stepped even closer to Rappaport to whisper in his ear " I will get you for this. Make no mistake about that." Walker then let loose a spinning sidekick which he stopped just short of Rappaport's head. Rappaport flinched as he cried " No please don't kill me." Walker put his foot back on the ground as Rappaport emptied his bladder out of fear.

Once inside the house a very upset Walker questioned his wife " What the hell happened Alex? Why did you take the children outside when you knew that Rappaport was out of jail? Did I or did I not tell you and them that I wanted everyone to stay in the house until I got back?" Before Alex could say anything Angela cried " Please Daddy don't yell at Mommy for what I did." Walker turned his attention to his oldest daughter who standing there with tears rolling down her face and asked her " And what did you do Angela Walker?"

" I went outside after I was told not to by Mom. She told me to wait until you got home to feed my horse Princess. I'm so sorry Daddy." Walker went to his daughter and hugged her as he told her " It's okay honey. I'm just glad that you and the other kids are okay." Angela still being held by her father said " But I almost got everyone burned up because I didn't listen." Walker looked at Alex who told him " Walker why don't you call the police and Trivette and the others? Angela and I will talk about what just hapened while we give the younger children baths then maybe we can make some brownies to take their minds off of what just happened."

Ray and the triplets protested about the baths but were sternly told by their mother that they could only have brownies if they had a bath first. Walker then assured his oldest daughter " What happened was not your fault Angela but I would like you and Mommy to make us some brownies, okay?" Angela nodded okay. Walker then addressed his four other children by telling them " I want you four to take your baths while I talk to the police then and only then will your mother and Angela make the brownies. Can you do that for me and your mother?" All four agreed that they would so Walker called up Trivette and the police department. Alex and Angela headed upstairs with the younger children to get the baths started.

It was now several hours later and the police detectives who were assigned to the case had just left when Alex came into the living room to announce that the brownies were done. Gage who was there along with Trivette exclaimed " Great the brownies are done. I'll just serve myself, okay?" Without waiting for an answer Gage headed to the kitchen followed by Trivette who said that he would do the same thing. Alex called out to them " Make sure that all of my children get some too. As a matter of fact you two can serve them their brownies in the dining room while you're getting your's. And make sure that there's one left for me and Walker, each." Alex motioned for the children to go into the dining room and they did. Alex then turned to Walker and explained what had happened to him " Angela went outside before I could stop her. I went to the door and told her to come back in the house but before she could do so Rappaport appeared from the barn and grabbed her. He held a gun to Angela's head as he told me that I had a choice to make. That choice was that either I could let him have some fun with Angela in the barn while I stayed in the house with the rest of the children or I could bring all of the children outside and take them willingly into the barn. I decided to take my chances on going into the barn with all of our children. Walker you have to understand there was no way that I could remain in the house with the other children while my oldest daughter was being hurt in the barn by that animal. And before you say anything if I had to do it all over again I would do it the same way."

" Alex I know that. What happened next?" Walker asked his wife who replied " Once we were in the barn Rappaport shooed the horses outside then he told the children to go into Thunder's stall and to stay there until he told them that they could leave it. They looked at me so I told them to go into Thunder's stall and that everything would be okay. He then tied me to the side rails of Paint's stall with some rope. Rappaport poured gasoline on some haybales that were near the door. He then proceeded to pour more gasoline around the side walls of the barn. After that was done he went to the main door where he stopped and told me that in a very short time the children and I were going to be burned alive. As he stood in the doorway I started working on lossening the rope that I had been tied up with. A few minutes later Rappaport said " There's the signal." He then poured a trail of gasoline outside then closed the doors. As I was freeing myself from the ropes I saw the glow of a fire right outside the door. I got the children and we went up the ladder to the hayloft. Once we were in the hayloft I had Angela jump down to the ground then lowered Ray as much as I could to her before I let him go but the triplets got scared and wouldn't let me lower them to her. Angela then said that she would go get you to help me with the triplets. You know the rest."

Walker pulled Alex to him as he said " He will pay for what he did to you and our children Alex." Stepping back she replied " I know that Walker but right now I don't want to talk about it anymore. Right now all I want to do is to eat some brownies with my family. Come on, let's go get some while there's still some left."

After taking a minute to compose himself Walker followed Alex into the dining room where he found her staring at a empty brownie pan. Alex was asking " Trivette and Gage, why aren't there any brownies left? Did you two eat them all?" Trivette and Gage both blamed each other at the same time then they both tried to say that the children had eaten all of the brownies.

" Don't you two go blaming my children for the two of you hogging up all of the brownies. Did it ever occur to either one of you that I might like a brownie? I mean after all Angela and I went to all the trouble to make them so that all of us could have some, not just you two. Well I'm waiting for an answer and I'd better get one soon. Let's hear it." Alex berated the two Rangers. Gage mumbled " I'm sorry Alex but I haven't eaten since dinner and besides I only had three while Trivette took four of them." Trivette glared at Gage before saying " You had four yourself. I'm the one who only ate three." Then noticing that Alex was still glaring at the two of them they quickly said their goodbyes and hurried out of the door. Alex smiled went into the kitchen and returned with another tray of brownies. She gave two to Walker then took one herself. Alex then wrapped the tray up and told the children that they could have some more brownies tomorrow. That it was time for them to start settling down for the night.

Later on after they had the children in bed the Walkers retired to their bedroom where Walker said " Thank god you were able to free yourself from that rope you were tied up with. Alex if you hadn't done what you did I would have lost my family tonight. You and the children are everything to me." Alex kissed him on the cheek then told him " I know honey and you can thank me for that later but right now I need to get the smell of smoke off of me."

" I'll help you with that." Walker volunteered so Alex nodded okay and headed into the bathroom where she started the water in the shower, as she was removing her clothes one of the children began screaming. Grabbing a robe Alex headed to the door but Walker stopped her by saying " That's Angela, let me talk to her. You go ahead and get your shower." Walker left their bedroom as Alex got her shower.

Entering his daughter's bedroom Walker asked her as he turned on the light " Angela honey are you okay?" Sitting up in bed and wiping her tears away Angela answered " No I'm not Daddy. I almost got everyone burned up this evening. I'm a bad girl because I didn't listen to Mom. You should send me away before I get Ray or the triplets hurt." Walker sat down on the side of Angela's bed and assured her that what happened wasn't her fault. At first Angela didn't want to believe that but Walker found the words to explain that sometimes very bad things can happen and that none of what had happened was Angela's fault. That yes she should have listened to her mother but that wasn't why they had almost been burned up in the barn. That the only person who was at fault was Rappaport and that he Walker would make sure that he payed for it. Angela then asked her father " I didn't do anything really bad? Did I Dad?"

" No you didn't. Now how about going to sleep?" Walker replied then kissed his oldest daughter on the cheek turned off the light and left the bedroom. When he returned to his bedroom Alex was already in bed sleeping so he undressed and got into bed with his wife. A few hours later he was awakened by Alex shaking his shoulder. Walker asked her " What's the matter? Does one of our children need me?"

" I need you Cordell." Alex answered then took off her nightgown as he reached for her. When they were done Walker asked his wife " How were you able to get out of the rope you were tied up with?" Alex replied " I kept my muscles tense so that he wasn't able to tie it tight enough. Then I relaxed my muscles and was able to get myself free. I remember you telling me one time that was how you were able to free yourself when you had been tied up."

" I love you Alexandra." Walker told his wife as he gathered her into his arms. Alex laid her head on his chest as she said " I love you too Cordell."

Chapter Five

One morning Walker entered Ranger headquarters good and late so Trivette followed him into his private office to ask " Why are you so late this morning? Did something happen on the way to work to make you so late? I had to tell D.A. Holland that you were busy with something and would call him just as soon as you got in. You had a meeting scheduled with him this morning concerning the Nathan case." Walker answered " I had something that I needed to take care of and I did."

" Would you mind telling what that you needed to take care all by yourself? Whatever it was was it more important than seeing what Holland plans to charge Nathan with in regards to what he did to that child?" Trivette again questioned Walker who replied " If you must know Trivette I got a lead on those three people that Rappaport hired to delay me from getting home in time to save my family."

" Are they still breathing?" Trivette blunty him asked causing Walker to snap " Yes Trivette, they are still breathing. Any other questions?"

" No, no questions but if you or Alex ever need to talk with me about what almost happened I'm here for you." Trivette responded. Walker then said " I know that Trivette and thanks for the offer but for right now can you hold things down here while I go see Holland?" Trivette replied that he would so Walker went to see D.A. Holland.

After he was seated Holland told him " Ranger Walker, in regards to the Nathan case my office will be charging Taylor Nathan for the repeated sexual abuse of the minor child Deanna Newhouse. As for her mother Jean Newhouse she has agreed to let the two children become wards of the state. In return we will only charge her with two counts of child endangerment. As for the man that Nathan made Deanna play 'house' with Miss Newhouse is insisting that she knew nothing about it and claims that she wants to press charges against the man herself. She gave us his name and under questioning he admitted that he paid Nathan to be allowed to sleep with Deanna, he's going to plea quilty to one count of corruption of a minor. In return he'll serve three to six months in the county jail and will testify against Nathan. Now in the case of young Louellen being almost assaulted by Taylor Nathan and another male friend we can only file charges against the two men for refusing to allow the child to leave the bedroom. They hadn't actually done anything to the child before you and Ranger Swanson arrested them. Now before you say anything about my office being too soft on Miss Newhouse please bear in mind that we may need her to testify against Taylor Nathan and his friend. I'm hoping that by going easy on her we can convince Miss Newhouse to testify and maybe spare Deanna the pain of having to testify in open court herself. Walker from what Officer O'Patrick who's been in contact with the child has told me Deanna thinks that Nathan is going to be coming for her any day now and that they will run away together. It's going to take a trained professional a lot of time and effort to make her see otherwise. I mean she's just a child and one who isn't equipped at all to understand a lot of what was going on. As for the baby that she's carrying the test have proven that Nathan is indeed the father making our case easier to prove. Any questions?"

" What happens to Deanna and her little sister Katrina now?" Walker asked Holland who replied " Foster care until they are eighteen unless of course they get lucky and someone wants to adopt them which given their age is highly unlikely." Walker nodded okay and got up to leave Holland's office when Holland asked him " Were you able to track down those three people whom Rappaport hired? The police department said that the trail had run cold. And if you did find them are all three of them still able to breathe unassisted?"

" I arrested them this morning, right now all three of them are in the county jail. And yes all three of them are still breathing on their own." Walker answered then left Holland's office. That night as Alex and Walker were sitting on their front porch watching the children play in the yard Walker told her " All three of Rappaport's accomplices have been arrested."

" I know, D.A. Holland called me up and told me that they were currently in county jail awaiting charges. He also told me that he's going to let them sweat it out in the county jail before seeing who was willing to testify against Rappport. Phil said that while he would make a plea deal to get Rappaport sent away for a very long time he would insist that whoever turned state's evidence would serve time in a state prison and that he would seek the maximum that he could get against the others." Alex replied. Walker just slid his arm around her to pull her close before saying " Aren't you going to ask me if all three of them are still breathing? You know like Trivette and Holland did."

" I know you Walker. Yes you would hit someone if you had to but you would never just kill anyone just to do so no matter what they had done. But if left with no other choice you would do it as a last resort. Not to change the subject but is it okay with you if I take Angela to see Sharon? Her nightmares aren't going away." Alex said to Walker. He looked over to see that Angela was standing away from the other children. Walker then answered " I think that would do her some good. I've tried to tell her what happened wasn't her fault and I thought that she believed me but I guess that she didn't if she's still having nightmares."

" She believed you but it was really terrifying up in that loft with all the flames and the smoke. Sharon will help her overcome that sense of sheer terror that we felt that evening. Now as to the other four it doesn't seemed to have affected them one bit, I guess they take after you in that regards. I guess that Angela is more like me in that way, letting things get to her like I do." Alex told her husband who answered " I was scared to death that I had just lost my family that night Alex. All I can say is thank God you were able to free yourself and save our children."

Trying to lighten the somber mood up Alex teased " Well in that case how about you show me your thanks later on?" Walker kissed his wife on her cheek then said " Later lady." Walker followed through on their plans later on that night and Alex began to take Angela to see Sharon.  



End file.
